Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Voter Hall Of Fame topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chester County inducts four into Voter Hall of Fame, celebrates half-century voting streaks
Summary
Chester County honored Thomas and Eileen Clapper and William and Linda Scott for voting in 50 consecutive general elections; Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt and local legislators attended.
Chester County officials on a recent morning inducted two couples into the county’s Voter Hall of Fame, honoring four residents who have voted in at least 50 consecutive general elections.
The county’s Board of Elections hosted a small ceremony at the Government Services Center in West Chester that brought together the honorees, county election staff and state officials, including Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt.
The Voter Hall of Fame, Secretary Schmidt said, “was established more than 40 years ago to encourage voting by publicly honoring individuals who have voted in at least 50 consecutive general elections.” Schmidt described the inductees—Thomas and Eileen Clapper of Phoenixville and William and Linda Scott of West Chester Borough—as “true role models of good citizenship” who have “valued their constitutional right to vote enough to show up for every single election from the first time they were eligible.”
Director of Voter Services Karen Barsoom said the county assembled citations and certificates from multiple offices—state, legislative and local—to present to the inductees and noted that the couples live in different legislative districts. Representatives and senators or their staff attended and delivered brief remarks; Sari, a senior constituent advocate for U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlihan, read a message from Houlihan recognizing the Clappers’ record.
State Senator Carolyn Kamida and Representatives Paul Friel and Chris Peele offered congratulatory comments and handed citations to the honorees. Barsoom also described commemorative items—pins and a memory coin—that the county gave to the inductees.
The event concluded with photographs of the inductees alongside the county Board of Elections and the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Barsoom invited other residents who believe they qualify to contact voter services to apply for Hall of Fame consideration.
The ceremony immediately preceded routine Board of Elections business that included the Board’s regular reports and votes on meeting minutes and polling-location matters.
